Environment

ADEN, Yemen, June 9 (Xinhua) -- At least three people died in Yemen following heavy rains and flood that struck several parts of the country's southern and eastern provinces over the past few hours on Sunday.

An Aden-based security official told Xinhua that torrential rains, lightning and high winds also caused a number of injuries in addition to blocking main roads in Aden and other neighboring provinces.

Washington, June 10 (AFP) The photo of Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron planting an oak tree in the garden of the White House symbolized the friendship shown by the two leaders.

But relations between them have since frayed -- over issues ranging from Iran to trade -- and the tree, a diplomatic source said this week, did not survive.

BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological authority on Monday continued a yellow alert for heavy rain in the country's southern regions.

Rainstorm is expected to hit parts of Guangxi, Guangdong, Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan over the next four days, the National Meteorological Center said.

Some southern regions have experienced torrential rains from June 6 to 9, with precipitation up to 350 mm in parts of Guizhou, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian.

NANCHANG, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been confirmed dead and one missing after strong winds, hail and rainstorm-triggered floods hit east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Sunday.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the heavy downpours that started Thursday had damaged 77,400 hectares of crops, collapsed 118 houses and severely damaged 97 houses, according to the Jiangxi provincial emergency management department.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 1.59 billion yuan (about 229 million U.S. dollars).

7 June 2019; MEMO: Cyprus will earn $ 9.3 billion over 18 years thanks to the exploitation of the Aphrodite gas field under a renegotiated contract with Dutch-British Shell, US-based Noble, and Israeli company Delek, the Energy Minister for Cyprus, announced.

George Lakkotrypis told reporters that the reworking of the production contract guaranteed Cyprus an average annual income of $ 520 million over the life of the gas field.

7 June 2019; DW: Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future protest movement on Friday won an Amnesty International human rights award for their "unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights."

7 June 2019; DW: A Deutschlandtrend poll by Infratest dimap has put the environmentalist Greens up 6 percentage points at a record 26%, one point ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and sister party Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), reflecting a similar sampling last week.

Lucknow, Jun 7 (PTI) At least 19 persons were killed and 48 injured due to dust storm and lightning in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, the state Relief commissioner said on Friday.

"While six persons died in Mainpuri, three persons each died in Etah and Kasganj and one each in one each in Moradabad, Badaun, Pilibhit, Mathura, Kannauj, Sambhal and Ghaziabad in incidents related to dust storm and lightning," official data released by the UP Relief commissioner said.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 06 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, marking World Environment Day, has emphasized the link between worsening levels of air pollution and the climate crisis.

As well as claiming seven million lives every year, and damaging children’s development, the UN chief noted in a message on the occasion that many air pollutants cause global warming, which he has described as “an existential threat.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is plunging $500 million into an effort to close all of the nation’s remaining coal plants by 2030 and put the United States on track toward a 100% clean energy economy.